


Trapped Ashore

by Inuy21



Series: Starkhaven's Finest [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Childhood Memories, Fear of Drowning, Gen, Sibling bickering, childhood angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21978631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inuy21/pseuds/Inuy21
Summary: Evelyn only wishes to join her brothers in their antics, but instead gets stuck on the sidelines yet again.
Relationships: female trevelyan & siblings
Series: Starkhaven's Finest [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1232885
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Trapped Ashore

Toes curled in the soft earth beneath bare feet as Evelyn squatted by the water’s edge. Her chin rested against her knees, a pout aimed at her stupid brothers that were fighting and splashing toward the middle of the pond. She wanted to be out there, but fear kept her at bay along with Devlin’s teasing words: You’ll never be brave enough. Her lip stuck out further while her eyes narrowed and promised vengeance on her brother. 

She was only seven! There was still plenty of time for her to learn how to swim! But then the anger faded to a simmer as Evelyn remembered her fear of drowning. With a sigh, she turned her head to the side and plucked a handful of grass to toss into the water. 

“Stupid,” she muttered the curse at herself, at her brothers laughing and carrying on as if she hadn’t followed them and wanted to join the fun. 

Instead they ignored her as usual, neither one wanting to take responsibility for her while their parents weren’t around. Evelyn plopped down on the muddy bank, not caring how dirty her clothes would get and stuck her feet fully into the water before scooting down further until her butt was at the edge of the pond. She swirled the muck under her toes while laying back to look at the clouds above her. She would have to venture into the deeper water eventually, but that could wait for another day. 

Her eyes rolled before shutting, images of playing and splashing with her brothers filling her head. Perhaps a picnic could be packed, Mama and Papa joining them and insisting Devlin and Aiden teach Evelyn how to swim. A smile twitched her lips as the daydream lulled her into a nap surrounded by the warmth of the sun and coolness of the water surrounding her legs. 

A yank on her leg woke Evelyn. It was too late to fight the sliding motion into the water. She screamed and wailed for help. Fighting the water around her in disorientation, drowning sharp in her mind. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with drops of water that splashed up with her thrashing. 

Cackling laughter broke through her panic, and anger blazed through the fear as she felt ground under her butt. Devlin waded out in front of her, head thrown back at his prank. Evelyn slammed her palms against the water, spraying herself once again before turning and crawling back onto the bank. Safe on land and her struggle over it was then she noticed the wiggling against her wet clothes. She stood, half-forgetting about the soft ground and almost sliding back on her butt but a hand caught her arm, letting her focus on shaking little tadpoles from the folds of her clothes where they had gotten stuck. 

A disappointed huff came from her oldest brother, Aiden. His fingers plucked at the ends of her long hair and tossed more of the creatures back where they belonged. “Such a mess. Mother and Father are going to reprimand all of us.”

Evelyn hated the way Aiden talked as if nothing was ever his fault. She wrinkled her nose, batting his hand away not caring if there were more tadpoles stuck in her hair…except that his other hand still held tight to her arm. “I didn’t ask to be pulled into the water!” 

Aiden tsked, waving his free hand at her ruined gown. “Neither of us made you lay down in the muck, either, dear sister.”

When she scowled at her brother, one corner of his lip hitched up for the briefest of moments. Evelyn wrenched her arm from his grasp, ignoring Aiden’s reprimand to glare at Devlin who had added a chant of “tadpole” amongst the fit of laughter. It was unfair! Stupid brothers! Stupid of her to chase after them as if they might one day include her in anything. 

Crossing her arms and turning her displeasure on Aiden, she said, “I’ll tell Mama that I slipped and fell so no one has to get in trouble.”

Not that she wanted to keep her brothers from getting punished, but she was learning to pick and choose her battles. Tell a little fib to her parents was easy. Getting the approval of Devlin and Aiden was not, and perhaps if she proved her worth—that she wasn’t a snitch—then they would finally let her join in their games.


End file.
